Delaware
Split decision for ex-auditor: Delaware justices uphold 1 conviction, reverse another
McGuiness stands convicted of 1 of 5 original charges
Despite their differences in nuances of the law, the bottom line is that the justices have now spoken, potentially ending a two-and-a-half-year prosecutorial saga with political implications that had pitted first-term Attorney General Jennings and her office against another first-term statewide official.
Before McGuiness was charged in October 2021, political insiders had speculated that the two Democratic politicians might be candidates in the 2024 gubernatorial race to succeed Gov. John Carney, who by law can’t seek a third term. Instead, McGuiness exited the political arena the day of her sentencing, and Jennings is not seeking higher office at this time.
Unless Jennings refiles the charge of official misconduct and wins at a retrial, the end result of the unprecedented prosecution of McGuiness will be conviction on one of five counts.
McGuiness will remain convicted of misdemeanor conflict of interest over her hiring of her teenage daughter to a part-time job that continued remotely after she went to college in South Carolina.
Beyond Carpenter overturning the structuring conviction, jurors had also acquitted McGuiness of two felonies — theft and witness tampering.
Before running for auditor in 2018, McGuiness had a long career as a pharmacist, business owner and a Rehoboth Beach commissioner.
Jennings began investigating McGuiness after whistleblowers in her office contacted prosecutors in the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. Jennings publicly announced the October 2021 indictment on the steps of the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington.
The trial was eventually moved to Kent County, where a Superior Court jury found her guilty in July 2022. While awaiting sentencing she nonetheless ran for re-election, only to get trounced in the September Democratic primary.
At her October 2022 sentencing, prosecutors sought a 30-day prison sentence for McGuiness and $30,605 restitution to the state, citing her lack of remorse and other aggravating factors. Carpenter gave her a year of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine.
Although she had three months remaining in her four-year term, McGuiness resigned a few hours after the sentencing. That occurred after Carney, a fellow Democrat, indicated he would exercise his constitutional duty to remove her after sentencing.
Jennings did not agree to an interview about the ruling but issued a statement that said it was a vindication of her decision to bring the public corruption case.
“After more than two years of endless litigation and theatrical rhetoric, the bottom line is that a jury, a Superior Court judge, and now the Delaware Supreme Court have all concluded that the ex-auditor’s actions were criminal,” her statement read.
Jennings added that “above all else, I am inspired by the courage of the whistleblowers who came forward to seek justice.”
While the criminal case might be over, a civil lawsuit by McGuiness against Jennings and others in her office is pending in U.S. District Court in Wilmington.
The federal lawsuit, filed in August 2023, claims her constitutional rights were violated when the chief investigator in Jennings’s office made false statements to get a search warrant for her office records. McGuiness also charge s that Jennings and then-prosecutor Mark Denney slandered her by making similar public remarks after she was indicted.
DRBC officials expect the New York City reservoirs to be under increased demand soon, as the city resumes its diversions from the reservoirs for drinking water. The city announced Monday it is pausing an aqueduct repair project that had stopped those diversions amid concerns about the drought.
“We might enter drought operations, and that’s because we expect a significant draw on the combined storage in the New York City reservoirs,” Shallcross said.
Rain and snow are forecast for the eastern United States later this week, but it’s not yet clear what impact this potential precipitation will have on water supplies and the severity of the drought.
“We had a rainfall forecast — it was for a lot less rain — and we didn’t see any of that in the river,” Shallcross said. “So it will be interesting to see how much rain that we get from this predicted storm event.”
The DRBC is “preparing for either outcome,” said spokesperson Kate Schmidt.
If drought conditions worsen, the Delaware River Basin Commission could declare a “water supply emergency” to implement a coordinated response as early as Thursday — or at its regularly scheduled business meeting in early December, officials have said.
When the basin enters drought operations, it triggers conservation actions such as smaller out-of-basin water diversions by New York City and New Jersey, water conservation orders or reduced river flow targets, which allow upstream reservoirs to release less water.
These actions help the Commission prepare to repel the salt front from drinking water intakes if needed by releasing more fresh water from upstream reservoirs.
The DRBC can launch drought operations before reservoir levels reach the drought thresholds, but the commission is not considering doing so at this time, Schmidt said.
Only a handful of people testified during Tuesday’s virtual public hearing. Several expressed concern about paving and water use associated with development in the upper basin, as well as climate change — which scientists say can intensify droughts by increasing temperatures.
Karen Feridun, founder of the anti-fracking group Berks Gas Truth, lives near Neversink Mountain, where dry conditions complicated efforts to suppress a brush fire in recent days. She told DRBC officials that reading about the impact of the drought on local waterways has been “heartbreaking.”
“I feel like what’s happening now is what we’ve been telling you was going to happen if someone didn’t blink and start acting on climate change,” Feridun said.
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Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride is already the target of anti-trans bias just days after Delaware voters sent her to the U.S. House.
A resolution introduced by GOP South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace would add a bathroom ban to the rules package House members will vote on next month. McBride will be the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress when she’s sworn in in January.
The bill would restrict members, staff and others from using single-sex facilities such as bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms “other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”
The ban would apply to the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings and require the House sergeant at arms to enforce it.
Conservative Republican Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene said she also supported a bathroom ban rule.
McBride did not respond Tuesday to an emailed request for comment, but wrote on social media yesterday in apparent response to Mace that “every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.”
McBride called the effort “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.” She said lawmakers should focus instead on issues like the cost of products and services, including housing, health care and child care.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson would not say Tuesday if he would entertain Mace’s legislation, but he did say all people would be treated with dignity and respect.
“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before, and we’re going to do that in deliberate fashion with member consensus on it, and we will accommodate the needs of every single person,” he said. “That’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Mace told reporters Monday that McBride, who she misgendered during her comments, didn’t “belong in women’s spaces, bathrooms and locker rooms.”
Delaware
Agriculture, Food and Natural Science Students Take Home Awards from 97th National FFA Convention & Expo – State of Delaware News
Delaware FFA members from across the state competed last month in career and leadership development events against teams from across the country at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, IN. To find a full list of the Delaware FFA results, click here: Delaware National Convention Results 2024. Another major part of this experience is the Expo, featuring agricultural colleges and universities from across the country, as well as many technical colleges.
During the convention, Delaware FFA members competed in 26 Career and Leadership Development Events as well as the Agriscience Fair. The full list can be found at Delaware National Convention Results 2024. The following Delaware FFA Chapters were in attendance:
- Appoquinimink FFA
- Caesar Rodney FFA
- Indian River FFA
- Lake Forest FFA
- Laurel FFA
- Laurel Middle FFA
- Middletown FFA
- Milford FFA
- Odessa FFA
- Smyrna FFA
- Smyrna Middle FFA
- Sussex Central FFA
- Woodbridge FFA
Delaware FFA members also participated in the National Band, National Chorus, and the National Talent Competition:
| Lake Forest FFA | Elora Kline | National Chorus |
| Smyrna FFA | Taylor Wallace | National Talent |
| Lake Forest FFA | Julia Novak | National Band |
| Sussex Central FFA | Maria Gutierrez Carcamo | National Band |
| Sussex Central FFA | Sam Trusty | National Band |
Several Delaware FFA supporters were awarded the coveted Honorary American Degree as appreciation for all they do for the Delaware FFA Association:
- Senator Chris Coons
- Justin Bailey
- Debbie Kirk
- Amanda Powell
- East Coast Seed Inc.
Additionally, this year Noah Dixon, Delaware FFA’s 2023-2024 state president, represented Delaware as the state’s national officer candidate. During the week leading up to the national convention, Dixon, along with 37 other individuals from across the country, went through the selection process. Dixon made it through to the second round and represented Delaware well.
Delaware FFA is a leading Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students pursuing careers in agriculture, food, natural resources, and other related career fields. For more information, please visit the FFA Web site at www.ffa.org or contact Bart Gill, Delaware FFA state advisor, at bart.gill@doe.k12.de.us.
Find more photos online here.
Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006
Related Topics: agriculture, award, Delaware, education, FFA, Student
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.
Delaware FFA members from across the state competed last month in career and leadership development events against teams from across the country at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, IN. To find a full list of the Delaware FFA results, click here: Delaware National Convention Results 2024. Another major part of this experience is the Expo, featuring agricultural colleges and universities from across the country, as well as many technical colleges.
During the convention, Delaware FFA members competed in 26 Career and Leadership Development Events as well as the Agriscience Fair. The full list can be found at Delaware National Convention Results 2024. The following Delaware FFA Chapters were in attendance:
- Appoquinimink FFA
- Caesar Rodney FFA
- Indian River FFA
- Lake Forest FFA
- Laurel FFA
- Laurel Middle FFA
- Middletown FFA
- Milford FFA
- Odessa FFA
- Smyrna FFA
- Smyrna Middle FFA
- Sussex Central FFA
- Woodbridge FFA
Delaware FFA members also participated in the National Band, National Chorus, and the National Talent Competition:
| Lake Forest FFA | Elora Kline | National Chorus |
| Smyrna FFA | Taylor Wallace | National Talent |
| Lake Forest FFA | Julia Novak | National Band |
| Sussex Central FFA | Maria Gutierrez Carcamo | National Band |
| Sussex Central FFA | Sam Trusty | National Band |
Several Delaware FFA supporters were awarded the coveted Honorary American Degree as appreciation for all they do for the Delaware FFA Association:
- Senator Chris Coons
- Justin Bailey
- Debbie Kirk
- Amanda Powell
- East Coast Seed Inc.
Additionally, this year Noah Dixon, Delaware FFA’s 2023-2024 state president, represented Delaware as the state’s national officer candidate. During the week leading up to the national convention, Dixon, along with 37 other individuals from across the country, went through the selection process. Dixon made it through to the second round and represented Delaware well.
Delaware FFA is a leading Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students pursuing careers in agriculture, food, natural resources, and other related career fields. For more information, please visit the FFA Web site at www.ffa.org or contact Bart Gill, Delaware FFA state advisor, at bart.gill@doe.k12.de.us.
Find more photos online here.
Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006
Related Topics: agriculture, award, Delaware, education, FFA, Student
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.
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